This invention relates to a conveyor system for bar-shaped articles, in particular cigarettes.
In the description given hereinafter, reference will be made only to bulk conveying systems for cigarettes, but this in no way detracts from its general applicability.
In known bulk conveying systems for cigarettes, one of the problems which most often arises is that of raising cigarettes along an ascending conveying channel in order to transfer them from a lower level to an upper level.
In known conveyor systems, this problem is normally solved by connecting the lower end of said ascending channel to a feed channel by way of a curve, and using along the ascending channel and said curve a plurality of conveyor belts comprising projections arranged to facilitate raising of the cigarettes.
The said known method has drawbacks both in that said projections can easily ruin the cigarettes disposed in contact with them, and in that the cigarettes tend to roll on each other and lose tobacco at the junction points of the various conveyor belts, in particular at the junction points disposed on the outside of the connection curve where the pressure exerted by the cigarettes on the belts is normally greater.